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1. Creekside Park. Cerrito Creek flows in an engineeredchannel through this small park on Albany Hill's north side.This channel replaced a meandering slough through amarsh that originally extended from Yosemite Avenue tothe bay. The marsh was once a Miwok summering place.Today, water birds such as egrets and herons are frequentvisitors.

2. John Hinkel Park. Blackberry Creek flows through thiswooded park, but at a reduced flow because its headwatersare diverted into the Spruce Street storm drain, which drainsto Marin Creek. Downstream at Capistrano Avenue,Blackberry Creek is again diverted into Marin Creek, neverto reach its original destination, Middle Creek.

3. Codornices Park. Two branches of Codornices Creekmeet in a culvert beneath the park. Walk up the southbranch beside the picnic area or the north branch besidethe playground to a magical world of trees, rushing water,and rocks. The name Codornices means quail in Spanish.This creek is mostly open on its journey to the bay; visit itagain at the Rose Garden, Live Oak Park, under the BARTtracks, and at the restoration at University Village.

4. Thousand Oaks Park. This previously culverted sectionof Blackberry Creek adjacent to an elementary school wasdaylighted (removed from a stormdrain) and restored in1995. Now, in 2009, willows have matured to form a densethicket, alders with 10-inch diameter trunks tower overhead,and small birds flit through the shady branches. The creekserves as an outdoor classroom for the school and anattractive feature of the park.

5. Village Creek. Created from the historical downstreamreach of Marin Creek, Village Creek flows through UniversityVillage. The creek carries less flow than it would havehistorically because Marin Creek's headwaters are capturedin a large stormdrain that now bypasses Village Creek. In1998, a restoration project daylighted 800 feet of the creekwest of Jackson Street. Look for a meandering channelunder a shady canopy of native riparian trees. After crossingunder the railroad track, Village Creek pops out again ina store parking lot near the freeway.

6. Lower Codornices Restoration Project. Projects in2004 and 2006 restored the formerly straight channel of

Codornices Creek between 3rd and 6th streets to ameandering path. The restored channel provides improvedhabitat for plants and animals, including pools, riffles, anda shading canopy of willows. Natural flows are furthersculpting the bed and banks, making them more natural.Look for gravel and sand deposited on the inside of thebends as point bars, and deeper pools on the outside ofthe bends. Riffles are the shallows between pools.

7. Albany Waterfront Park. Park your car at the trailhead,then walk back toward the freeway and the bird-rich Albanymudflats. Codornices Creek flows through a salt marsh onyour right, then under the road into the mudflats. The MarinCreek storm drain enters the mudflats from under thefreeway. Viewing platforms and informational signs helpyou appreciate these wetland habitats. By foot or by bicycle,explore the park (built on landfill) and the Bay Trail, withbeach, wildlife, outdoor art, and spectacular views of theGolden Gate Bridge.

8. University of California Campus. Visit the central partof campus to see a landscape design that integrates anatural creek. The cool shady banks of Strawberry Creekare perfect places to read, daydream, or study the creek.

9. Strawberry Canyon Fire Trail. A haven for runners,this trail crosses Strawberry Creek and Hamilton Gulch,then works its way upward along the side of the canyon.Near the crest of the hill, as you look out over the canyon,you can appreciate the bowl shape of this part of thewatershed.

10. University of California Botanical Garden. StrawberryCreek is landscaped in different styles in different botanicalcommunities. Compare appearance of the creek in theJapanese garden with that in the California-native garden.

11. Strawberry Creek Park. This small section ofStrawberry Creek on Allston Way west of Sacramento wasdaylighted in 1982. Big chunks of concrete forming thenorthern bank were once part of the culvert that held thecreek. This is a good example of a restored creek that hasbecome an asset to the community. This demonstration ofthe advantages of creek daylighting has been a nationalinspiration for similar projects.

12. Berkeley Aquatic Park. Standing on the east shoreof the lagoon, you are on one of the few stretches of originalBay shore left in the area; behind you is the old wave-cutcliff. The freeway is built on earth fill and forms the westshore of this artificial lagoon. Tidal flow comes in and outthrough the culvert under the freeway. Some flows fromthe Potter/Derby stormdrain network also flow into thelagoon.

13. Temescal Creek Park. Near the Department of MotorVehicles on Claremont Avenue, the creek bed you see isnot really Temescal Creek. Most of the water of TemescalCreek runs in a large culvert beneath you. The water yousee is pumped into this artificial creek bed during thesummer months to create a park amenity. The system wasbuilt when this section of Temescal Creek was culvertedin the 1970s. Walk along the pleasant pathway or bringyour kids to the tot lot.

14. Lake Temescal Regional Park. In the 1860s, AnthonyChabot dammed Temescal Creek creating Lake Temescal.Chabot's water company delivered water to Oakland andwas purchased by EBMUD in 1928. The Hayward faultruns along the northeast side of the lake and continuessoutheast for about a mile running parallel to TemescalCreek and the Warren Freeway. To see a natural sectionof Temescal Creek, walk south along the shore to wherethe creek enters the lake.

15. Emeryville Crescent. These wetlands are part of thenew Eastshore State Park. Public access is restricted topreserve the area as nesting habitat and foraging groundsfor shore birds. Temescal Creek enters the Bay here, asdoes storm water from West Oakland (See #16).

16. Ettie Street Pump Station. Flooding was a seriousproblem in West Oakland after these former lowlands andmarshlands were developed in the late 1800s. In 1954,construction of an extensive storm drain network and pumpstation improved stormwater drainage from West Oaklandto the Emeryville Crescent.

17. Mandela Parkway. Engineering design which failedto account for the soft marsh sediments beneath this stretchof the former Nimitz freeway was partly responsible for thecollapse of the double-decker freeway in the 1989 Loma

Prieta Earthquake. A ground-level parkway now replacesthe freeway.

18. Glen Echo Park. This tiny, two-block park betweenMonte Vista and Montell Streets is a shady place for a strollalong Glen Echo Creek.

19. Oak Glen Park. Glen Echo Creek is the main attractionin this lovely strip park along Richmond Boulevard.

20. Lake Merritt, Lakeside Park. Lake Merritt is a tidalestuary, a mixing zone for saltwater and freshwater. Itoriginally connected to San Francisco Bay via San AntonioCreek, a quarter-mile wide waterway. Now it connects tothe Oakland Inner Harbor via a narrow channel and tidegate, so tidal flushing is greatly reduced.

21. Lake Merritt Tide Gate. This gate, accessible bytaking the walkway under 7th Street, controls the flow ofthe tides in and out of Lake Merritt. The water level isusually kept high for recreational use, but is pumped downin the winter to accommodate storm runoff. Note how muchmore lush the marsh vegetation is on the south side wherethe tide cycles naturally. Plans are in place for a majorreconfiguration of this waterway.

22. Oakland Museum of California. Stop in and explorethe fascinating exhibits about our East Bay streams andmarshes. You can also pick up a copy of this and otherBay Area creek & watershed maps in the bookstore.

23. Piedmont Park. Visit this small park near PiedmontHigh School to see tiny Bushy Dell Creek. The ParksDepartment has been restoring native vegetation here.Earlier restorations were overgrown by invasive, alienEnglish Ivy. New replantings were underway in 2008.

24. Dimond Canyon Park. Treat yourself to a beautifulhike along Sausal Creek through a wooded canyon. Noticethe concrete walls, check dams, and other erosion controlstructures built by the Works Progress Administration. After70 years, the check dams are full of sediment, and themasonry structures are washing-out. Communityorganizations working with state and local governmenttransformed the lower canyon with extensive nativerestoration. New projects are underway in the upper canyon.

25. Dimond Canyon Trailhead. Park on the east side ofthe freeway for access to the trail up Palo Seco Creek, thewest side for the trail down Dimond Canyon, or better yet,use the walkway under the freeway for access to bothtrails! These trails follow two of the most significant sectionsof natural creek remaining in the Oakland area. Enjoy!

26. Joaquin Miller Park. Palo Seco Creek runs throughthe canyon west of the park headquarters. The canyonwas part of San Antonio Forest, a stand of huge redwoodsstretching from Dimond Canyon over the hills to Moraga,which was completely logged in the 1850s. Today'sredwoods are the oldest second growth redwoods anywhere.Look for "fairy rings" of redwood trees outlining thecircumference of some of their giant ancestors.

27. Peralta Hacienda Park. This is another example ofan artificial creek created by diverting a portion of the waterfrom the main creek culverted below. To see the real PeraltaCreek, also known as Adams Creek, walk across DavisStreet and look down.

28. Cesar Chavez Park. A short segment of Peralta Creekis open through this park. A 2003 restoration project removedan old culvert, regraded the creek, installed a new pedestrianbridge, and planted the banks with native trees and shrubs.A storm drain bypass visible downstream from the bridgehelps prevent flooding. The park attracts wildlife as well aslocal residents.

29. Mouth of Sausal Creek. Historical records and thename Sausal, meaning willow grove, suggest that this creekmay have ended in a large, flooded willow grove, impoundedby a large sand dune, near the present-day Fruitvale BARTstation. Today the creek pours forth from a culvert into thedredged tidal canal between Oakland and Alameda. Thebest view of the culvert outlet is from the fishing pier onthe Oakland side of the Fruitvale Bridge. The culvert is bigenough to paddle a canoe into!

30. Mills College. Ask for a campus map and directionsto Lake Aliso at the MacArthur Boulevard entrance booth.Lake Aliso is a flood control pond, which, when full, ishabitat for water birds. Walk downstream from the lakealong one of the two remaining long reaches of Lion Creek(previously Arroyo del Leon). The creek is open all through

the campus and, though pollution from old sulfur minetailings upstream may have reduced creek life, there aremany birds and beautiful glades to enjoy.

31. Leona Quarry. Located in the headwaters of ChimesCreek, this old quarry site has recently been converted tohousing. Rainwater runs off the terraced slope via a complexnetwork of concrete V-ditches and pipes. The networkconverges at a long detention basin beside the freeway,where the water passes through a filter to remove sedimentbefore flowing under the freeway in a pipe, flowing eventuallyinto Chimes Creek. In addition to slowing the release ofheavy winter rains, the detention basin provides a smallwetland habitat for plants and animals throughout the year.

32. Leona Canyon Regional Preserve. From the trailheadon Canyon Oaks Drive, hike through one of the most naturalwatersheds in the East Bay. The retention pond at thetrailhead collects creek water, helping to prevent floodingin the urban areas downstream. Most days the pond is amarsh, full of cattails and birds, but during wet winters thepond fills with water and spills into the storm drain inletson the slope. The trail follows the Rifle Range Branch ofArroyo Viejo Creek, eventually mounting the ridge andending at Merritt College.

33. Arroyo Viejo Recreation Center. Arroyo Viejo Creek,through this large city park, underwent a major restorationin 2002, creating an attractive space for recreation andeducation, and a more natural creek environment. Concreteretaining walls were removed and the channel reshapedwith wide, gently sloping banks, allowing for safer accessand more flood capacity. A new amphitheater, nativevegetation, picnic areas, and a pedestrian bridge completethe project. Regular visitors can watch for natural changesas vegetation matures, and the creek settles into its newchannel.

34. Martin Luther King, Jr. Shoreline Park. Visit DamonMarsh by the Curt Flood Sports Complex off Oakport Road,hike the asphalt trail south to its end, then continue a littlefurther to Damon Slough. Water from both Arroyo Viejoand Lion Creeks enter the Bay here. Look for pickleweedand shorebirds, or stay and watch the tides.

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SCALE

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CREEK & WATERSHED MAPof

Oakland and BerkeleyBy Janet M. Sowers, William Lettis & Associates, Inc.

Christopher M. Richard, Oakland Museum of CaliforniaHistorical wetlands research by the San Francisco Estuary Institute

POINTS OF INTEREST

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Willow groves,circa 1850

Beach, circa 1850

Slough, circa 1850

Tidal marsh,circa 1850

now water

now fill land

Bay

Bay, circa 1850,now fill land

Artificial bodies ofwater

Presentwatersheds

Points of interest

Creeks

Former creeks, buried ordrained, circa 1850

Natural end of creek channel,circa 1850

Underground culverts andstorm drains

Engineered channels

EXPLANATION

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How this map was made: Storm drains, engineered channels, flood-controlchannels, and present-day creeks were compiled from city and county data,Google Earth aerial photography accessed in 2008, and field inspection. Thehistorical locations of creeks were interpreted from 1939 aerial photography,and 1850-1910 historical maps. Historical tidal marshes and willow groveswere researched by the San Francisco Estuary Institute using a variety ofsources including the 1853, 1856, and 1857 U. S. Coast Surveys (www.sfei.org).Complete documentation can be obtained from Janet Sowers at William Lettis& Associates, Inc. in Walnut Creek, or www.museumca.org/creeks. The basemap showing present geographic features consists of portions of the followingU. S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute topographic quadrangles: Richmond (1980),Oakland West (1980), and Oakland East (1980). We added major new roadsand highways.

Financial support was provided by the Alameda Countywide Clean WaterProgram and the Oakland Museum of California.

Technical assistance was provided by the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Albany,and El Cerrito, Balance Hydrologics, Friends of Five Creeks, and the WatershedProject. Editorial assistance was provided by Trish Mulvey. The map wasdrafted by Jason Holmberg.

Fair Use and Citation Policy: This work is dedicated to the public domain,and we encourage the general public to use the information openly andappropriately. Proper citation for this map is:Sowers, J.M., and Richard, C.M., 2009, Creek & Watershed Map of Oakland& Berkeley (Fourth edition): Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA,1:25,800 scale.

This map shows the current waterways of the Oakland & Berkeley area,including the creek and storm drain network and present-day watershedboundaries. Also shown are the historical creeks, tidal marshes, and lagoons.Many of these historical water features no longer exist. Development resultedin the construction of underground storm drains and engineered channels, thefilling of tidal marshes and the bay, and construction of reservoirs.

Notes: Only larger features are shown. Creeks and engineered channels havea minimum of 0.2 square kilometers of watershed, and storm drains measureat least 24 inches in diameter.

Engineered channels include both natural creeks significantly reinforced byconcrete or rock, and artificial channels, ditches, and canals not coincidentwith a historical creek. Some newer engineered channels are designed tomimic natural channels.

Accuracy: All lines should be considered approximate. There is error in thehistorical maps, in the transfer of historical information to modern maps, andin the modern maps themselves. In addition, natural shifting of creeks andfluctuations in the extent of marshes and lagoons can be expected both beforeand after the historical maps or photos were made. Historical marsh and lagoonboundaries are considered accurate to within 1000 feet on either side of theline shown. Historical creek locations are accurate to within 200 feet, ephemeralchannels to within 500 feet. Present-day creek and storm drain locations areconsidered accurate to within 100 feet on either side of the line shown.

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